Which tube line in London is the most linguistically diverse? Where on the tube are you most likely to hear French or Portuguese? UCL’s Oliver O’Brien’s map of the most common second languages by tube stop will give you a clue
Walk along the streets of London and it’s not uncommon to hear a variety of langauges jostling for space in your eardrums. Step inside a tube carriage on the underground and the story is no different.
Oliver O’Brien, researcher in geovisualisation and web mapping at University College London’s department of geography, has created a map showing what the most common second language (after English) is at certain tube stops across the capital.
Using a map of tube journeys and busy stations that he had previously created, O’Brien used 2011 Census data to add the second most commonly spoken language that people who live nearby speak. More.
See: The Guardian
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Poland
Local time: 18:20
Member (2006)
English to Russian
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Do you know why we can't find Russian as the second speaking language on this map, even though it is considered that a lot of Russian speaking immigrants reside in London?
It is because London is mainly occupied by Russian-speaking oligarchs who are too superior to use the tube. Russian, Ukrainian and other Russian-speaking olichars can be "met" in such districts as Chelsey, Kensington, Mayfair, Belgravia.
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:20
Italian to English
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Interesting point, Oleg. I expect it is better to keep a low profile with statistics on the Russian diaspora right now. Although if there were a station to include on the map, it should be Green Park, famous for its polonium-laced sushi shop. http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/itsu-shaken-but-not-stirred-by-litvinenko-incident/1133469.article
Local time: 17:20
Danish to English
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Or Russian comes in a strong third, but not quite enough to knock the second language off its spot. Or Russian is spoken widely, but not in actual clusters. Etc.
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